Topline
Commentator Scott Jennings said Tuesday morning that he had spoken with Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., pushing back on claims that the 84-year-old lawmaker had become braindead during a hospital stay that has stretched over several weeks.
McConnell has been hospitalized twice this year.
Photo by Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images
Key Facts
Jennings said in an X post he spoke with his “old friend” Tuesday morning, saying he spoke to the senator for nearly 20 minutes about “IRAN, UKRAINE, the unfolding situation in MAINE, my visit to the TR Presidential Library, and even a little bit of Senate history.”
Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., spoke with McConnell on Monday and Tuesday, according to NOTUS, which cited a spokesperson for Thune who said the two “had a lengthy and substantive conversation that covered a variety of topics, including national security.”
Reporter Desirée Townsend on Monday amplified assertions from far-right activist Laura Loomer, who claimed McConnell had been declared braindead and placed on life support.
A spokesperson for McConnell told multiple outlets last week that the senator was recuperating in the hospital, saying he “continues to improve, and is working closely with his staff on Kentucky and Senate matters while the Senate is out of session.”
NBC News, citing police scanner audio, reported that paramedics performed CPR on someone experiencing “cardiac arrest” at an address known to be associated with McConnell.
According to Punchbowl News and the New York Post, McConnell was discovered unconscious on the morning of June 14 and taken to a local hospital in an Advanced Life Support ambulance.
A McConnell representative confirmed to multiple outlets last month that the senator had been admitted to the hospital and was “receiving excellent care,” later saying he was “working closely with staff on Senate business.”
However, even as a representative for the senator said he was working with staff this week, it is still not clear what his prognosis is.
McConnell Has Been Hospitalized Twice This Year
The senator is four-and-a-half months removed from his last hospitalization, which occurred after he dealt with flu-like symptoms. McConnell checked himself into the hospital to be treated for the symptoms and was given a “positive” prognosis. He was hospitalized for a week and returned to the Senate not long after.
Big Number
42 years. That is how long McConnell will have served in the Senate when his term ends in January.
Tangent
Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., and former Rep. Charles Booker, D-Ky., are facing off in the midterms to replace McConnell. Barr is heavily favored in the race.
Key Background
McConnell, the Senate’s Republican leader from 2007 to 2025, has experienced several notable health events in the last few years. He suffered a concussion and a fractured rib from a fall in 2023 and took another fall in 2024 that resulted in leg stiffness and an absence from Congress. The senator’s office has attributed his occasional use of a wheelchair after some of his injuries to lingering effects of polio he dealt with as a child. The senator also experienced two incidents where he froze while publicly speaking to reporters. Neurologists who reviewed video of the event disputed McConnell and his team’s claims that he simply felt lightheaded during the episodes, saying he likely experienced mini seizures. McConnell’s 18 years as the Senate’s top Republican marked the longest stretch for a party leader in the chamber’s history.
Further Reading
Neurologists Suggest McConnell Suffered Seizures—Disputing ‘Lightheadedness’ Claims—Report Says (Forbes)mit
Sen. Mitch McConnell Hospitalized With Flu-Like Symptoms, Received ‘Positive’ Prognosis (Forbes)
